Shemekia Copeland

UNITED Black Box Auditorium

Multi-GRAMMY nominated Blues-singer Shemekia Copeland comes to Westerly for a special night of soulful roots music live at the UNITED.

Doors:  7:00pm – Show: 8:00pm – all ages  

Tickets:  $40 (inclusive of fees)

Visit Shemekia’s WEBSITE / Follow her on FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM //Listen on  SPOTIFY // Watch on YOUTUBE 

“Shemekia Copeland is the greatest blues singer of her generation.” –The Washington Post

 “Shemekia Copeland has established herself as one of the leading blues artists of our time. Profound and truly powerful…inviting you to think and to party.” –NPR Music

 “Shemekia Copeland gets her message across loud and clear. She transcends with a mix of styles including gospel, rock, blues, soul, and Americana, proudly representing her generation with style and grace in a voice too strong to be ignored.” –No Depression

Shemekia Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. The multi-GRAMMY nominee is beloved and honored worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty and humor of her revelatory songs, as well as for her winning, engaging personality. The Chicago Tribune says, “Copeland is the greatest female blues vocalist working today. There’s no mistaking the majesty of her instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery.”  

 Born in Harlem in 1979, Shemekia Copeland first performed at eight years old alongside her father at the Cotton Club. Her 1998 Alligator Records debut, Turn The Heat Up, launched her as a major blues and R&B force at just 18, earning praise from outlets like The New York Times and CNN. Over the following decade she released a string of acclaimed albums, collecting eight Blues Music Awards and multiple Living Blues Awards, along with her first of five GRAMMY nominations for Wicked (2000). After two albums on Telarc — including the GRAMMY-nominated 33 1/3 — she returned to Alligator in 2015 with Outskirts Of Love, which won a Blues Music Award and earned another GRAMMY nomination. Her celebrated “state of the world” trilogy followed: America’s Child (2018), named MOJO’s #1 blues release of the year and winner of the Blues Music Award and Living Blues Album of the Year; Uncivil War (2020), GRAMMY-nominated and named Blues Album of the Year by DownBeat, MOJO, and Living Blues; and Done Come Too Far, which brought her fifth GRAMMY nomination. Rolling Stone called her “a powerhouse” who “can do no wrong,” and The Philadelphia Inquirer described her as “a commanding presence, a powerhouse vocalist delivering the truth.”

Beyond her recordings, Copeland has performed thousands of shows worldwide and shared stages with Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, and The Rolling Stones. She entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait (2008) and performed at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama alongside B.B. King, Mick Jagger, and Buddy Guy (2012). Her media presence includes a feature on PBS’s Austin City Limits, a PBS News Hour segment, and a major profile in The Washington Post. In April 2022, she performed at the United Nations General Assembly Hall for International Jazz Day, and in 2023 she appeared on the GRAMMY Award-winning Basie Swings The Blues. She also hosts her own daily blues show on SiriusXM’s Bluesville. Forbes praised her as “fearless, honest and hopeful,” John Prine remarked she “doesn’t sound like anybody else,” and Mavis Staples called her voice “strong and soulful.”